Financial

By David Shelton

Imagine a healthcare system where providers and patients take an active role in the overall patient healthcare experience. An environment where the clinical and financial components of care meld together creating one perfectly formed patient healthcare journey from beginning to end. It is this amalgamated view of the patient experience that will enhance not only patient satisfaction but will cultivate the provider bottom line.

In today’s healthcare, providers invest heavily in a subset of the patient experience, which they often define as clinical care, communication with providers, facility cleanliness and other care-related attributes. While these are of utmost importance, a new, broader definition of patient experience has emerged. According to the Beryl Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps providers improve patient experience, a more relevant definition is, “the sum of all interactions shaped by an organization’s culture that influences patient perceptions across the continuum of care.” As rising deductibles and co-pays turn patients into payers, financial interactions must be part of the patient experience equation. The financial aspect of care should not be put aside as it is an essential component of a positive patient experience. [Read more…] about Refining the Overall Patient Financial Experience

By Mark Spinner

 The growth of high-deductible health plans is eliciting mixed feelings among healthcare providers.

Consumers may be more inclined to seek out high-quality, high-value providers since they have to foot a larger portion of their medical costs. However, healthcare organizations are finding it more difficult to collect the full portion of the patient responsibility.

According to one study, 20 percent of working-age Americans with health insurance reported having problems paying medical bills over the course of a year; according to another, nearly 85 percent of patients with bills $500-$1,000 do not pay their hospital bills.

Figures like these are highly problematic for the majority of healthcare providers, who know all too well how consumerism is affecting revenue. With at least one study highlighting the surge in healthcare bankruptcies over the past year, providers need to find new, innovative solutions to reduce their bad debt and collection woes. [Read more…] about Reducing Bad Debt While Boosting Payment Engagement and Satisfaction

Investment management according to the business encyclopedia is the act of buying and selling investment with a specific objective in mind. It refers to activities done over a portfolio that include but not limited to trading of securities, bonds, real estate and shares. It also entails the art of budgeting, banking, and paying taxes as well. Investment management has other names: private banking, portfolio management, and money management.

Managing one’s investments requires a specified goal in mind that investors or a group of investors wish to meet. Those taking part can be a group of individuals, for example, Diamond and Diamond lawyers, who want to increase their wealth or institutions that hire fund managers to advice on investment choices that whole entities, for example, pension funds or insurance companies, and can benefit from taking part. Fund managers, in that case, would offer financial analysis, asset allocation, provide a selection of stock options to the client and keep an eye on current investment. For execution to take place, a fund manager or investment manager has to work with individuals or entities to understand their goals, plan accordingly and manage both tangible and intangible investments. [Read more…] about The State of Investment Management and the Role Millennials Will Play

By Dan Brewer 

People often think of factors like demographics, occupancy rates, and rent growth when considering an investment in senior housing. One thing they may not consider:  the operator’s long-term recruitment strategy. However, in today’s market, the success of any senior living community will rely heavily on an operator’s ability to attract and retain quality talent. And judging by market statistics, that task will not be easy.

Front-line caregivers play an important role in the care of residents at assisted living communities and nursing homes. They’re the ones providing day-to-day care and socializing with residents on a personal basis. Statistics show, however, that caregiver roles are increasingly hard to fill and maintain. Research from LeadingAge shows the average annual turnover at senior living communities is nearly 45 percent. That’s 3x the national average of about 15 percent across all industries (2016). Those stats offer a clear challenge—one that will only keep growing. By 2020, it’s anticipated we will need another 1.2 million people to support the growing number of aging likely to fill senior living communities. Thus, for an investment in senior housing to be successful, the issue of recruitment will also need to be successfully managed.

The following are a few thoughts to consider when making an investment in senior housing: [Read more…] about Could Recruitment Strategy be the Most Important Factor in Your Senior Housing Investment?

By Alex Tate

If I Don’t Report Medicare Will Ding Me?

Last year Medicare implemented the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). MIPS is a risk and an opportunity to add to your income.  You should, at least know what is going to happen to your Medicare payments.

For most physicians, Medicare remains the largest single source of income, and while Medicare Advantage Plans are growing in membership, they still make up only a fraction of the Medicare population. However, depending on your location, and participation in Medicare Advantage Plans, you could find yourself exempt from MIPS based on your patient mix, so it is worth a quick check of your patient revenue sources, and number of patients before expending the time to learn MIPS submissions.

Additionally, most physicians, aside from the obvious specialties like pediatricians, and potentially OB/GYNs are still subject to MIPS, so unless you want to volunteer for a cut in your Medicare payments, best to get on top of what is required, and make submissions part of your routine.

[Read more…] about How to Report MIPS Step-by-Step Guide for 2018

By Dave Yohe, VP of Marketing, BillingTree

With a new year comes new resolutions, disruptors and trends. This will especially ring true in the payments space, which boasts one of the biggest growth markets in the world – fintech. Research estimates that global fintech solution usage is currently at 33 percent and is expected to increase to 52 percent in 2018. As the business world hangs up their calendars for 2018, Dave Yohe, VP of Marketing at BillingTree looks at five key technology developments shaking up some key markets in 2018

1. B2B Payments finally going digital
Perhaps further behind in the fintech curve than they should be are B2B payments. This is often attributed to the complex nature of B2B payments – most transactions involve multiple stakeholders, are usually attributed to POs and budgets, and are managed manually. The check still holds as the most common method of payment acceptance in US B2B payments, but only just. The Association for Financial Professionals has found that in 2004 81 percent of B2B organizations paid by check, but by 2016 this number had shrunk to 51 percent.

The US Government has already mandated that in 2018, all invoicing for business-to-government payments will be electronic-only. This is bound to have a roll-on effect into the B2B market as a whole. In 2018, expect more CFOs to begin to realize the efficiency benefits of digitizing B2B payments. [Read more…] about The 2018 Payments Technology Checklist—Five to Follow